


Gilded Cage

by KieraElieson



Series: Kiera’s Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Claustrophobia, Gen, Hyperventilating, Panic Attack, trapped in a small cage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26921569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Thomas is a teenager, struggling with all the ‘bad thoughts’, when suddenly they stop. Logan goes to the dark side to figure out why.
Series: Kiera’s Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952992
Comments: 13
Kudos: 71





	Gilded Cage

**Author's Note:**

> BTHB: Remus who is Claustrophobic and Logan with Gilded Cage. Logan gets him out in the end but it takes a while... Too long for Remus to not be traumatised by the end. Oh and Canon-Verse! 
> 
> "Gilded Cage", taken literally, is 100% a gt prompt

It was strange. Yes, the ‘unwanted thoughts’ had slowed to a mere dripping, rather than the stream there had been. But something felt off. More of Thomas’s ‘darker impulses’, especially anxiety, had increased recently, and Logan was also concerned about how quickly Remus’s contributions had been cut off. 

And he was curious. It was a massive shift, if not in Thomas’s entire mind, then of the ‘dark side’. Anxiety had never had quite such a hold before, and judging by the times Logan had personally heard him, he hadn’t been prepared for it either. And then anger, apathy, and self-isolating tendencies had also increased.

But even more strangely, Logan hadn’t heard a word from Deceit in over a week. They’d been in touch, occasionally exchanging messages, and even a few short conversations. But recently it had been less and less, and there had been odd codes Logan had enjoyed attempting to decode, but had failed at understanding. 

So now he stood at the door to the ‘dark side’. It was illogical to have such a division, but he was familiar with the tall, wide wall, and the small door. 

Except now it seemed in odd disrepair, especially the door, which was splintered and slightly ajar. Deceit usually maintained the wall, and its state made Logan more concerned for his wellbeing. 

He pushed the door open as far as it would go, and squeezed through the crack.

The other side was dark. And not ‘dark’ as had been presupposed, but literally dark. As if there were no lights, not even a semblance of sunlight through windows. 

This made the glimmer of sparks that accompanied the loud exhale even more attention grabbing. 

Logan spun, wishing he had some kind of weapon, and saw a very large bulk of… something. It was too dim to tell. But it was breathing. Living. Whatever it was. 

His eyes gradually started adjusting, and he could see more vague shapes, but no detail. Another heavy exhale, and flutter of sparks, and it became more clear.

It was a dragon. A dragon asleep, chained around the neck, heavy chain trailing off into the distance. Even the sparks weren’t enough to let him see color, but he was almost certain the dragon would be yellow. That it was Deceit. 

Logan carefully reached out, setting a hand on the dragon’s nose in a similar way to a movie Thomas had seen. 

There was no reaction whatsoever. 

“Deceit? It’s Logan. I hate to wake you, but I’d like to discuss some things.”

Nothing. 

Logan frowned. He pressed with his hand, but still received no response. 

“Deceit. Deceit!”

Nothing. 

Logan even went so far as to hit him. But still no response. The breathing was slow and even, one breath every few generating sparks. There was no twitch, nor opening of an eye, nor disruption to his breathing to suggest waking. 

“He-he won’t wake up…” a new voice said, startling Logan. 

Luckily, he regained his composure quickly, and certainly didn’t fall onto the ground. “Anxiety.”

Anxiety saluted, looking around nervously. “You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe right now.”

“Yes. That is what I was concerned about. What exactly has been going on over here? It seems much has changed, but without explanation or warning.”

The darkness could be confusing him, but Logan thought he could see a slight tremble to Anxiety’s shoulders. “Well… yeah. You guys said things had to change. Thomas wanted them to change.”

Logan nodded. “Yes, as a gradual process, as a part of Thomas’s growth and maturation. This seems to be different than that.”

Anxiety bit down on his lip. “Then… we-we don’t have to?”

“Don’t have to what? We’ve never required anything specific of you.”

There was a soft sound in the distance, and suddenly Anxiety was standing close to Logan, so close their shoulders pressed together. 

“You-you’re a light side. You’re way more powerful than me.”

“That isn’t quite how it works, but—“

“Look, I’ll get you there, and hold them off as long as I can. But you have to do the hero part, alright?”

“I’m hardly a hero, that would be Roman’s—“ Logan’s words were cut off in a strangled yelp as he was scooped off his feet and carried quickly further into the darkness. 

He barely knew what was happening until he was dumped onto the floor and there was the sound of a door shutting behind him. 

He felt for a handle, but there didn’t seem to be one. Though eventually he found a light switch. 

The light was dull, almost reddish. And as soon as it was turned on he heard a small gasp. 

He was in a small room, and in the middle of the room, taking up much of the area, was a cage. Inside the cage was a table, a chair, and a cot. The cage seemed to be empty. Except for on the table, where there was something draped in a dark towel. And that something was rustling. 

“Wr-wrath?” A faint voice asked, tremulous as if the speaker were crying. “Apathy?” The voice was too faint and high for Logan to readily identify. 

“I am neither. I am Logic.”

There was a faint sob. “I-I’ve learned my lesson. I have, I  _ swear!  _ **_Please…_ ** I-it’s so  _ small.  _ Logic, please, I promise, I’ll hold the thoughts in, I won’t let them out, I won’t try to leave, I’ll stay right here, I swear I will, please!”

Logan still couldn’t identify the voice, or discover where it was coming from, unless it were under the towel. But the cage still stood between him and the towel. He didn’t see a door on the cage either. This whole room seemed made to defy logic. 

“Please what?”

There was a broken sob, the breath hitching as if the speaker were nearly hyperventilating. “Let me out. Please! Let me out, let me out, LET ME OUT!!!” The final phrase was less spoken than it was screamed, and there was a movement from the towel, and a clinking like metal. 

Whatever was under there, it screamed and thrashed, sounding far more than terrified. 

“I can’t, I don’t know how—“

“LET ME OUT!!!” Any further words devolved into a long, howling screech. 

Logan was frozen. Caught between his intense desire to do something, anything, and his inability to do so. He couldn’t enter the cage without a door. Nor could he exit the room. He couldn’t help whoever it was, and they were clearly both terrified and in need of help. 

“Listen, you need to get yourself under control, if you continue to panic there will be a possibility of falling unconscious.”

“YOU THINK I HAVEN’T PASSED OUT AND WOKE UP STILL TRAPPED A MILLION TIMES ALREADY!!!”

There was another screech, their breath clearly starting to come short. 

Logan glared, and swung a fist into the bars of the cage. Nothing happened, of course. It was infuriating, but it made sense, unlike the rest of this room. 

No. 

No. 

The room did NOT make sense. 

It was NOT logical. 

It should NOT exist in this way. 

The door ought to have a handle. The cage ought to have a door, and a lock, and a key hanging somewhere out of reach. The light ought to be bright enough to see adequately, and ought to be either red or not red. 

Logan grabbed the keys off the wall, and unlocked the cage door. He pulled the towel off to find a much smaller gold cage, and a tiny Remus squished inside, kicking against the bars and screaming. 

That wasn’t right. 

It wasn’t Logical for Remus to be so small, nor to be caged. He was a necessary part of Thomas. 

Remus stretched out on the bare floor, hyperventilating, with tears pouring out of his eyes. 

Unfortunately, such distress was logical after such an experience. 

Logan knelt beside him, holding one hand in an attempt to provide comfort without overwhelming him. Remus’s eyes fixed on his, wild and desperate. His breath caught, and he thrashed, struggling. 

“Breathe out, as much as you can manage.”

“Can’t!” Remus forced out, and promptly gasped in more air. 

“You can, you just did. Say something again, anything. Whatever you’d like to say.” Logan prepared himself for a sudden tirade of inappropriate language. 

Remus’s mouth opened and shut, but nothing came out. His struggling weakened somewhat. 

Logan thought hard, trying to think of something, anything, Remus could manage to follow while in his current state. And then he realized. 

“Remus, you are essentially a figment of Thomas’s imagination. You do not require air.”

Remus’s breathing stopped entirely, his body going limp. 

It was a long minute before he breathed in again. He made a very Remus grin. “I think I prefer breathing. Not as fun as all the kinky people make it out to be.”

Logan let out a long, relieved sigh. 

The door suddenly banged open, and Anxiety stumbled in, bleeding from what looked to be more than one place. 

“Lock it! Logic, lock it!”

Logan waved his hand, and both of the two ‘dark sides’, along with a sleeping Deceit, and Patton and Roman as well, were all in a facsimile of Thomas’s living room. They were all figments, after all. Thoughts. Able to cross the mind at incredible speeds. 

Logan cleared his throat loudly, standing up on the couch to command attention from them all. 

“I would like a thorough explanation.”

  
  



End file.
